Weekend Edition Oct. 21, 2013
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 Joining George Knapp for the entire 4-hour show on Sunday night, Uri Geller, one of the world's most celebrated and investigated paranormalists, discussed how his proven powers led him to be given a succession of highly classified espionage roles, known only at the highest levels of the intelligence community. As early as five years old, he discovered he had the ability to bend spoons in his hand, and could perform telekinetic tricks like moving the clock ahead at school to get out early. Geller, an Israeli, said he first met a Mossad agent around the age of 12, and demonstrated his ESP and mind reading techniques, and began doing work for them, eventually going on to meet such people as Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir. In the early 1970s, the esteemed parapsychological researcher, medical inventor and author, Dr. Andrija Puharich conducted tests and experiments on Geller, who had been performing at nightclubs in Tel Aviv. Under hypnosis, Geller revealed information about extraterrestrial sources in nature, and there were strange, unexplained metallic-sounding voices on Puharich's tape recording of the session. Around this time, Geller also came to the Stanford Research Institute for secret CIA testing of his skills. As described in this film excerpt, scientists said that Geller was able to telepathically detect objects, change the weight of a piece of metal, and accurately sketch drawings that were hidden from his view.  On one of his missions, Geller said he had a secret meeting with Ambassador Max Kampelman, and was tasked with telepathically bombarding the mind of a Russian negotiator in Geneva so that he would sign a nuclear arms reduction treaty. Geller also conducted two experiments on the air-- one involved fixing broken watches and time pieces, and afterward, a number of people emailed in to say that their old time pieces were suddenly working again. In his second experiment, he made a drawing, and sent out a mental image of it to listeners, inviting them to recreate it. People may email George Knapp a photo of their drawing, which will be compared to Geller's, and the results will be announced next Sunday.
Uri
Geller (b. 1946)
Uri
Geller is an international star in the paranormal circuit and is most famous
for his claim to be able to bend spoons and keys with the power of his mind.
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Profile
Real
Name
Uri Geller ( Hebrew: אורי גלר)
Aliases
None
Occupation
Psychic, Entertainer,
Mystifier, Lecturer
Place
of Birth
Tel Aviv, Israel
Height
6' 1"
Eyes
Brown
Hair
Brown
Abilities
Geller possesses the
apparent uncanny ability of psychokinesis - the movement of matter, and
telepathy; the ability to receive someone's thought pattern and transmit images
in a similar manner.
His signature effect is
the bending and contorting of spoons and various silverware.
Interesting
Fact
The name "Uri"
is derived from the Hebrew words meaning "My Light."
Bio
Uri Geller was born in
Tel Aviv, Israel on December 20, 1946.
His parents were of
Hungarian and Austrian descent, and he is distantly related on his mother's
side to Sigmund Freud.
At the age of four he
had a mysterious encounter with a sphere of light while in a garden near his
house.
A retired Israeli air
force officer, who was an eyewitness to this encounter, validated this
mystifying event decades later.
He first became aware of his unusual powers when he was five.
One day, during a meal, his spoon curled up in his hand and broke, although he
had applied no physical pressure to it.
His parents were
somewhat shocked and Uri did not mention the incident to anyone else at that
time. He developed these powers in school by demonstrating them to pupils. His
mother thought he inherited them from Sigmund Freud.
When he was eleven, he went to live in Nicosia, Cyprus where
he attended a Catholic high school, The Terra Santa College and learned
English.
He then returned to
Israel, served as a paratrooper in the Israeli army and fought in the Six-Day
War of 1967 during which he was wounded in action.
From 1968 to 1969 Uri worked as a model, being photographed
for many different ad campaigns; during that time, he began to perform for
small audiences as a nightclub entertainer, becoming well-known in Israel.
In 1969 he began to demonstrate his powers of telepathy and
psychokinesis to small audiences. By the end of 1971, he was a household name
throughout Israel, thanks to his numerous stage appearances.
Uri has been studied by
the world's leading scientists, including a few who worked with Albert
Einstein.
The world's most
prestigious scientific magazine, Nature, published a paper on Uri's work at the
Stanford Research Institute in the U.S.A - a unique endorsement, and an
irrefutable proof that his skills are genuine.
His work with the FBI
and the CIA has ranged from using Mind Power to erase KGB computer files and
track serial killers, to attending nuclear disarmament negotiations to bombard
and influence the Russian chief negotiator with positive thought waves so that
the Soviet delegation would sign the Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty.
Uri has lectured to the
directors and CEOs of large multinational companies such as Henkel, the Prime
Minister's Conference, Novartis, Mizuno, Sony, Rolls Royce, Hallmark and many
more.
In 1995 a major motion picture inspired by Uri's life story
titled MindBender was filmed in Israel directed by the legendary Ken Russell
starring Oscar nominee Terrence Stamp. The film was distributed among others by
Disney's Buena Vista.
He was also invited by
PriceWaterhouseCoopers as a speaker to the 2004 World Economic Forum at Davos,
Switzerland, along with such dignitaries as Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney and Steve
Forbes.
In 2006 Uri lectured to
the heads of Reuters in Jerusalem and also to the heads of Google Europe.
A vegetarian and fervent
promoter of peace, Uri has used his intuitive abilities to successfully detect
oil and precious metals, one of his successes in locating a huge offshore oil
field for Mexico's national oil company PEMEX resulted in Uri getting a Mexican
nationality as a token of appreciation and honour by Mexico's President Jose
Lopez Portillo.
Uri Geller's artistic skills began during his early
childhood. A 'pupil' of Salvador Dali, whom he knew well, Uri has exhibited his
drawings, paintings and artworks in major galleries and museums in the USA,
Europe, Japan and Israel.
His successful
television series "The Successor," which premiered in Israel in early
2007 to historic record-breaking ratings, has now been launched worldwide.
Screening in the United States on NBC prime time, under the title
"Phenomenon," the show was co-hosted by illusionist Criss Angel.
In 2008 Uri created an amazing UFO TV event in Germany and
more TV specials are planned for worldwide distribution.
Although he is not a
Magician, Uri was very proud to accept the David Berglas International
Magic Award in London in 2008, for his services to the promotion of Magic. In
2010, he received in Los Angeles the prestigious Dunninger memorial award.
Uri Geller has a
daughter and son, both in their mid-twenties; he is also the owner of two dogs
and the author of fifteen best-sellers, including the novels Ella, currently in
production to be made into a major Hollywood movie, and Dead Cold, which was
listed as a contender for the Golden Dagger Award by The Times in the UK.
Throughout the years,
Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects
of psychokinesis and telepathy; Geller dispiutes that accusation.
His career as an
entertainer has spanned almost four decades, with television shows and
appearances in many countries.
Uri Geller used to call
his abilities "psychic," but now prefers to refer to himself as a
"mystifier" and entertainer.
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